One year after finishing
fourth in the Kentucky Derby, Normandy Invasion will return to Churchill
Downs to take on a strong field that includes Eclipse Award winner Will
Take Charge in Friday’s Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes.

Trainer Chad Brown decided
to send Normandy Invasion to Louisville on Sunday, shortly after he breezed
four furlongs in 48.35 seconds at Belmont Park. Normandy Invasion had
worked a bullet five-eighths in 59.03 eight days earlier.

“The horse is really
training well, and I like the timing of the race,” Brown said. “He
showed he liked Churchill Downs when he trained there for two weeks last
year, and he certainly ran well in the Derby.”

Normandy Invasion was beaten
3 1/2 lengths by Orb in the 2013 Kentucky Derby after making a strong
middle move and sweeping to the lead nearing the stretch. Normandy Invasion
did not start again until defeating optional-claiming company at Gulfstream
Park on Feb. 22, setting a one-mile course record in the process. In his
most recent start, Normandy Invasion was second-best behind Palace Malice
in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap.

“The choices were to
run him in the Westchester for a lot less money against Palace Malice
or bring him here for the Alysheba,” said Brown, who trains Normandy
Invasion for Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm Inc.

Along with Normandy Invasion
and Will Take Charge, the field for the 1 1/16-mile Alysheba figures to
include Appealing Tale, Bradester, Dynamic Sky, Golden Ticket, and Moonshine
Mullin.

Castellano rode WinStar Farms'
Revolutionary to victory in the Withers Stakes (gr. III) and Louisiana
Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher. He rode the Chad Brown-trained Normandy
Invasion for the first time in the Wood, finishing three-quarters of a
length behind undefeated Verrazano.

"It was a very, very tough
decision," Muzikar said. "These were some of our best clients;
we just won a million-dollar race on Revolutionary and we ran huge with
Normandy Invasion. WinStar are great supporters of ours and of course
there's our man Todd."

Normandy Invasion, by Tapit
, has a win and two seconds from five starts, with earnings of $300,240
and 44 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby, which puts him 11th on
the leader board for the 20-horse field. Revolutionary, a son of War Pass,
has a 3-1-2 record from six starts, earnings of $788,500, and ranks fourth
with 110 points.

"Javier really liked the
way Normandy Invasion ran in the Wood; he thought two more strides and
he would have caught Verrazano, and he thought he galloped out strong,"
Muzikar said. "There's pros and cons to every situation—Revolutionary
has a lot of heart and grit—but it's just one of those things where
we had to choose."